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The Last Goodbye
TYPE: Narrative Short
GENRE: Comedy
STATUS: Post-Production
LOGLINE
When confronted by her most private desire at her grandmother's funeral, a young Polish-American woman struggles to navigate her truth and her familial pressure to conform.
SYNOPSIS
After learning Iga, a woman she once went on a date with, is working at her grandmother's funeral service, Basia struggles to navigate her truth and her conservative familial pressure to conform, leading her to re-evaluate her life and take a leap of faith into the unknown.
ARTISTIC STATEMENT
Living authentically is easier said than done. It's something I strive to do every day. But it's hard. We have societal pressures everywhere, from family, friends, and community. It takes courage to live authentically, and in life, we have pivotal moments that can bring us closer to our authenticity. "The Last Goodbye" is about that moment in Basia's life, her first step closer to her true self. A visual that came to me early on while writing the script was Basia running down the street in the opposite direction of her family's car, leaving them behind. As she runs, she kicks off her shoes and peels off her uptight blouse until she's stripped down, barefoot, in a white tank and jeans. I love this shot because it communicates so much without words. A weight sheds off her, and she is reborn. My job as the director is to delicately communicate this crisis our main character faces while maintaining a vibrant tone. We will use long lenses to give our protagonist the feeling of claustrophobia and absorption. I plan on using close-ups to probe the facial landscape. Every corner-of-the-mouth grin and eye flutter is a subtextual cue into our protagonist's deeper, honest, emotional state. An expressionistic sound design will expand the film's narrative field outside the purposefully tight visual frame. As our character's perspective broadens, so will the frame. We aim to capture the nuance of breaking away from a dysfunctional cycle. In this case, it's Basia's family and Baisa herself. Death always shines a light on how fragile our lives are and gives us an opportunity for perspective. We strive to inspire our audience and hope to play a small role in giving them the courage to be authentic themselves.
KEY CREW
Kali Castro Davis - Co-Writer / Director
Kali Castro Davis is a film & commercial director, writer, and editor. Growing up in a multicultural family made Davis aware that the world contains multitudes and fed her curiosity. Davis studied filmmaking abroad in Paris and Prague and has directed short films in French, Catalan, & Arabic. Davis's time in Europe influenced her as a storyteller. However, she returned to the United States and finished her studies at the American Film Institute Conservatory, where she truly developed her creative voice. Davis has worked in film for almost a decade. She has had her work screened at SXSW, AFI Fest, London Indie Shorts, Female Voices Rock, and others worldwide. After winning first place at AGBO Films film competition, "No Sleep Til' Film Fest -21," Davis was humbled by the outreach of women expressing their appreciation that a team of women had come in first place. Davis aspires to continue to tell stories from the female lens and perspective.
Michelle Twaraska - Co-Writer/ Producer/ Lead Actress
Michelle Twarowska is an actress of Polish descent based in Los Angeles. She is currently filming a new TV series, "Fatal Attraction," staring next to Lizzy Kaplan, and recently wrapped a movie, "Late Bloomers," with Karen Gillan that premiered at SXSW in March 2023. Michelle can also be seen on the silver screen next to Ryan Gosling in the movie "The Gray Man" directed by Russo Brothers, by whom she was also awarded the 1st place in The Russo Brothers + AGBO "No Sleep till Film Fest" as a writer & actress for movie "Happy Day." Michelle is known for her recurring role of Helga in CW's "Jane the Virgin" and Tamara on ABC's "Fresh off the Boat." Michelle's extensive background in dancing and music made her a finalist of "So You Think You Can Dance" season 4 in Poland, and she appeared as a dancer in TV shows such as: "X-Factor," "The Voice," and "Dancing with the Stars." She plays drums, piano, and flute, speaks Polish, German, Czech, and Russian, performs her own stunts, and is professionally trained in mixed martial arts, skiing, kayaking, and rafting.
Pip White - Cinematographer
Pip White is a Cinematographer and Photographer working in film and commercials. She is a graduate of Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design and received a Masters in Cinematography from AFI, where she was recognized as a PIGOTT/ BAFTA SCHOLAR. Before her time at AFI, Pip worked as a camera assistant and operator for nearly a decade on indie features and blockbuster franchises. Pip has developed her craft under the tutelage and mentorship of esteemed Cinematographers - BAFTA winner Rob Hardy BSC ASC 'Ex Machina, Annihilation, Mission Impossible Fall Out,' BAFTA nominated Ben Davis BSC' Dr. Strange, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri,' Banshees of Insherin' and Oscar winner Philippe Rousselot AFC ASC' A River Runs Through It, Interview With The Vampire, Fantastic Beasts The Crimes of Grindelwald.' ? Since graduating from AFI, Pip has been featured as a part of the BAFTA LA Newcomers Talent Programme and become a member of the local 600. Over the past year, Pip has lensed three feature films. Independent feature 'Way Down.' In Spring 2022, she completed filming in Vancouver on the indie Sci-Fi Thriller 'PARALLEL'starring Danielle Deadwyler (Till, Station Eleven, Harder They Fall) and Aldis Hodge (The Invisible Man), directed by Kourosh Ahari. Most recently, Pip completed principal photography in Florida on the independent feature 'SPIDER AND JESSIE' starring Mckenna Grace (Ghostbusters Afterlife), Dacre Montgomery (Stranger Things), and Jojo Regina (Where the Crawdad Sings), directed by Dan Kay and produced by Joe Restaino (PIG, Passing).
Allie Delury - Producer
Allie Delury is an award-winning producer and director based in Brooklyn who specializes in impact storytelling and documentaries. She has ten years of journalism and public relations expertise in addition to seven years of active duty Air Force service where she worked as a combat camera officer, training mostly men how to document combat in austere locations overseas. Her branded work is routinely published in Airbnb, Thrillist, Men's Health, Fox, Tastemade Travel, Semester at Sea, Booking.com and more. She has also been to over 100 countries, done vanlife in Australia and Mexico, sailed around the world, lived abroad for five years, ran the hardest marathon in the world and placed 5th in her age group during Ironman Cozumel.
In 2022, Allie Delury was selected as a producer for the 2022 Women’s Weekend Film Challenge where she led a team of 33 female and non-binary filmmakers to write, shoot and edit award-winning All is Well in 48 hours. In 2023, she was selected as a judge for the 2023 Madness Film Festival in NYC on the heels of winning ten festival awards for Ivy Grace - a short abortion documentary that was featured on CNN, NBC Nightly News, People and more. Her latest feature-length documentary Local Yokels features comedian Sam Tallent and is currently in post production.
Her recent success pushed her to start Work Our Way Productions – a 100% veteran owned-and-operated production company in Brooklyn.
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